Search form

Search this site

DISTINGUISHED HONOR SOCIETY ELECTS 37 UCSB STUDENTS

Lillian Kurosaka

Friday, June 11, 1999 - 17:00

Santa Barbara, CA

The University of California, Santa Barbara chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most distinguished academic honor society, has elected 37 undergraduate students to its membership. The initiation ceremony and the Larry Willson lecture was held on Sunday, June 6. Benjamin J. Cohen, Lancaster Professor of International Relations at UCSB, delivered a talk titled "Globalization and the Future of Money."

Limited to students in the liberal arts and sciences, membership in Phi Beta Kappa is based on academic excellence and "genuine intellectual curiosity," as demonstrated by the range and nature of courses undertaken, according to the campus chapter, California Lambda.

To be eligible, seniors must have completed at least 60 acceptable course units at UC Santa Barbara with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.4; juniors must have completed 120 units at UC Santa Barbara, with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.75. Courses that are professional, technical, vocational or recreational are not considered. Candidates must also have completed the equivalent of an intermediate course in a foreign language and have mastered algebra through quadratics.

Even more important to the selection committee, made up of UC Santa Barbara faculty members who belong to the society, is evidence of a varied program of study reflecting a broad range of courses in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities beyond the university's minimum requirements.

Phi Beta Kappa was established in December 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. The UCSB chapter was founded in 1968.